The impact of information presentation style on belief change: An experimental investigation of a Socratic Method analogue
Background Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) employs a variety of psychological techniques and procedures with the aim of achieving cognitive change, such as in the strength of belief in dysfunctional cognitions. The present study aimed to investigate whether analogues of two commonly used CBT information presentation styles, Socratic Method, and didactic psychoeducation, differentially impacted upon the strength of a commonly held irrational belief.
Method Sixty‐nine participants were recruited to participate in the online experimental study. Participants were allocated to one of the three conditions and presented with a 15‐min intervention: an analogue of the Socratic Method, didactic psychoeducation, or non‐relevant reading (the control condition). Measures of belief, anxiety, and behaviour relating to the target cognition were analysed pre‐ and post‐intervention.
Results Results indicated significant change occurred in strength of belief from pre‐to‐post intervention across all three conditions. The Socratic analogue condition resulted in significantly greater belief change than the control condition, but did not display significantly greater belief change than the didactic psychoeducation condition. In contrast, the didactic psychoeducation condition did not display significantly different belief change than the control condition.
Conclusions The results of the study do not provide evidence of a clear superiority of an analogue of the Socratic Method relative to didactic psychoeducation, with regards to magnitude of belief change following a brief intervention. Despite a number of methodological limitations, the results of the present study do suggest that the impact of the Socratic Method on belief change warrants further investigation.
Adult attachment, worry and reassurance seeking: Investigating the role of intolerance of uncertainty
Background: The adult attachment dimension of attachment anxiety has been demonstrated to be associated with a variety of anxiety symptomology, including worry, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and reassurance seeking. A variety of research has indicated that IU is associated with level of worry and reassurance seeking. The relationships between attachment anxiety, worry, IU and threat-related reassurance seeking have not been subject to investigation. The present article reports the results of an investigation of these variables within a community sample.
Methods: Three-hundred and twenty-eight participants were recruited to complete an online survey in which participants completed the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Threat-related Reassurance Seeking Scale.
Results:Attachment anxiety, IU and worry were correlated with threat-related reassurance seeking. Consistent with previous research, IU was found to mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and worry. IU and worry were found to be serial-multiple mediators in the relationship between attachment anxiety and threat-related reassurance seeking.
Conclusions:The results of the study suggest IU is likely to play a key role in the relationship between attachment anxiety and worry, as well as the relationship between attachment anxiety and threat-related reassurance seeking.
Trait Mindfulness Moderates the Relationship Between Early Maladaptive Schemas and Depressive Symptoms
Previous research has demonstrated that depressive symptoms are positively linked to early maladaptive schemas and negatively linked to trait mindfulness. However, the role trait mindfulness may play in buffering the effect of early maladaptive schemas on depressive symptoms has not yet been studied. Therefore, in the current study, we examined whether trait mindfulness moderates this relationship. Specifically, using a community sample of 207 Australian adults, we administered the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale, the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form-3rd Edition, and the Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Results revealed that trait mindfulness moderated the relationship between early maladaptive schema endorsement and depressive symptoms. The findings are consistent with the proposition that trait mindfulness acts as a protective mechanism in limiting depressive symptomatology. Theoretical implications are discussed, with a focus on understanding how and why mindfulness-based affect regulation strategies can be used to help buffer the effect of early maladaptive schemas on depression.